Canvey star Harrison Chatting says he is thriving in new midfield role

IN-FORM Canvey Island midfielder Harrison Chatting says he is fitter than ever and enjoying the added responsibility of playing in a more central position.

The 23-year-old was moved from the left wing to centre midfield by manager Danny Heale at the start of the season and Chatting is revelling in the role – putting in a number of impressive performances.

The former Billericay Town youth teamer was injured at the start of last term, having missed all of pre-season and the start of the campaign having broken his foot.

And Chatting says he is enjoying his football more in a central position.

“I was put in midfield at the start of the season and it’s worked really well for me,” he said. “I am enjoying it there and I appreciate the faith the manager has shown in me.

“I like being able to dictate games more than I could on the left. I occasionally felt wasted there as I wasn’t getting the ball enough but it is all coming through the middle now so I like that added responsibility.

“I want to score 10 goals this year. It is good to chip in with a few goals and I think I can reach that target.”

“I feel a lot of confidence in myself,” added Chatting. “I broke my foot last year and missed a big chunk of the pre-season and the start of the season.

“So after last season finished I decided to carry on with my fitness work and came into this pre-season fitter than ever.”

Chatting conceded Canvey’s slow start to the season had been frustrating. The Gulls have lost four of their opening eight matches, shipping 14 goals in the process and conceding first in six of those games.

But he said this weekend’s match at home to last year’s Ryman North winners VCD Athletic gives them a good opportunity to get back on track.

“It has been an average start by all accounts,” he admitted. “We have conceded first in six of our eight games and that has got to change. You don’t want to be continually chasing matches as you want to kick on in games.

“We were poor against Maidstone (last weekend) and individual errors cost us. We were caught once playing out from the back but we won’t change the way we do things. The manager has told us how he wants us to play and we want to follow that model.

“We need to show we can bounce back after these defeats and we want to do it in front of our fans tomorrow.”